Recipes

07/18/2013

No, wait a minute, get the garbage can out and now go over to the fridge...

Put them on the counter and look at the ingredient label on the back. What ingredients do you recognize and which ones don't you recognize. Do you know why those are there?

Look at the expiration date. Throw the bottle away and vow to make your own salad dressings for the next month. You may already know about this great little app called Fooducate but I will share it here. It is a tool that serves to educate you about ingredients in processed foods. Download the free app and then you scan the bar code on the product you want to know more about. It will grade the product and tell you why it has the grade it is given, then gives you products that are considered an "upgrade".

Now that we got that out of the way, let's make salad dressing! Once you have made your own and taste them on your favorite greens, grains or mixed salads you will never go back. The versatility of homemade dressing are never more than 5 minutes away once you have all the ingredients available. I like to make my dressings in a small bowl with a whisk. Sometimes I make them in a small bowl food processor like my Cuisinart. They store well in a small pint jar in the fridge (canning jars are great for storing dressings).

Inventory what is in your pantry for making dressings. Do you have a few different oils? You might stock extra virgin olive oil, a neutral (preferrably expellier pressed) oil like safflower or grapeseed oils, toasted sesame oil. Not olive oils are the same. Try to choose a higher quality olive oil for your salad dressings. For some tips on choosing olive oil check out this link: Choosing olive oil Some of my favorite olive oils are California Olive Ranch and Lucini Olive Oil.

What vinegars or other acids do you have? Vinegars to have on hand might include red wine, rice wine, sherry, balsamic, apple cider vinegars as a good variety. Dijon mustard is a staple ingredient in many dressings. I like to keep a bottle of lemon and or lime juice in the fridge if I do not have fresh lemons or limes available.

Dry spices like kosher or sea salts, black pepper, oregano, cumin, thyme, coriander, cayenne, paprika are staples in a whole foods pantry. Fresh garlic and shallots and especially seasonal fresh herbs are bonuses in summer. Many people have health related issues associated with sodium. Learning how to incorporate fresh herbs and spices can minimize the need for more salt although salt is an important component to dressings.

What kind of sweetners do you have on hand? Local honey and maple syrup are great alternatives to using white sugar and add another depth of sweetness that sugar just cant provide.

A good all around oil to acid ratio is 3 parts oil to one part acid. Remember that and you can make dressings. Let's make dressing:

Classic French Vinaigrette

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake to mix. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your tastes.

Variations: You can take this basic recipe and enhance it into countless variations by adding dried herbs (1/4 tsp dried thyme, dill, or oregano). You can add a tsp of honey, maple syrup, or cane sugar to sweeten it.

Plan to use a handfull of salad greens per person and toss with 1-2 TB dressing per serving of greens. You only want to lightly coat the greens, not drown them in dressing. You may serve extra dressing at the table.

This dressing is inspired from a delicious recipe from Masala Farm by Suvir Saran and Charlie Burd. Their recipe uses fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, dill, fennel, marjoram, basil, lemon verbena, lavender, and a few others I cannot remember, but feel free to use the fresh herbs you have available or growing in your own garden.

I have created a simple version. Use fresh herbs you have available. The originial recipe has some herbs that you may not have access to unless you grow them yourself (like lavender, lemon verbena, fennel, marjoram) so I thought I would simplify it just a little.

2 dill fronds

2 sprigs fresh basil

1 sprig fresh oregano

3-4 fresh chives

1 sprig fresh thyme

Juice of two lemons

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

2 TB local maple syrup (medium amber is best)

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Pick leaves off all the herbs and finely chop. Transfer the berbs to a small bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, oil and maple syrup (may also use honey) and add the spices. Mix well in a jar and use within a day.

*Use this dressing on sliced cucumber and onions and tomato salad in summer and you will want to make it often. Try this dressing on butter lettuce sprinkled with some shredded carrot and even daikon radishes for a German inspired light salad.

03/31/2013

Mahleb is also called sour cherry and Saint Lucie cherry. This whole seed comes from the black cherry and is mostly grown in Iran, but is also grown in Turkey and parts of the Mediterranean. Its taste can be described as having a bitter almond flavor with cherry notes.

Tsoureki bread is made by making an enriched dough using white flour, yeast, sugar, milk and eggs. Traditionally flavored with a spice called mahleb, gives it an authentic aroma of intense bitter almond/cherry. This dough rests overnight in the refrigerator for a slow rise. It will be baked tomorrow morning.

Cultural traditions are repeated yearly and exist in any world culture. I married into a Greek family back in the eighties and while am no longer in this family, the traditions still entice me to celebrating this rich Greek culture. I had never made Greek Easter bread but was inspired to make it this year. I remember asking about the flavorings found in Easter bread and my mother-in-law said it was mastic. I have learned that both can be used. Greek Easter has a movable holiday which changes each year. This year our Christian Easter is celebrated March 31 while the Greek Orthodox Easter will not be celebrated until May 5.

I found this particular recipe for tsoureki (Greek Easter bread) from King Arthur flour website and was attracted to it by a particular ingredient I had in my spice cabinet called mahlab. This is the pit of the sour cherry, Prunus mahaleb. Some other European cultures refer to it as the Saint Lucy (or Lucie) cherry. It is grown mostly in Iran and also in Turkey and Syria. Armenian rolls called chorek and turkish kandil rings and Lebanese pastries filled with dates and nuta all incorporate mahleb into the recipes. The seeds contain coumarin as in all pit fruits (apricot, peach, cherry, etc). I found the whole seeds a few years ago from Penzey's spices so had to buy a small jar and figure out how to use them. The whole spice is ground in a spice grinder. It has a hauntingly fragrant aroma when ground up. The first time I smelled it, the familiar new Play-doh smell came to my mind. It is commonly used in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines mostly in baked items. When baked the aroma just blossoms and fills the kitchen with its subtle cherry aroma. The spice can be found in whole and ground forms. If ground spice is what you find, store it in the refrigerator since it can go rancid rather quickly. I personally prefer whole spices in my pantry. Other pairings for this spice include anise, cinnamon, clve, mastic, nigella, nutmeg, poppy seed and sessame seeds. Apricots, almonds, dates, pistachio nuts, rose water and walnuts all have natural affinity with mahleb. The source for this information comes from Jill Norman's comprehensive book called Herbs and Spices.

The following day the dough is punched down and divided into thirds. Set a third of the dough aside and place 2/3's of the dough in a lightly greased 9 1/2" round baking pan, seen below.

Two thirds of the dough goes into a greased round baking pan.

I do not think it matters what tradition you celebrate yet the common thread is celebration with family and friends. Cultures center around a belief system be it religious or secular. My favorite course during my high school years was called world humanities. We studied cultures and belief systems around this earth. There are stark differences but many had threads of a similar color running through them. Celebrate, family, friends, common ideas.

Divide the remaining dough into 3 equal pieces and roll into long ropes of about 20" in length.

As we have spent the weekend quietly relaxing, minimal family in town I think about peoples around the world who celebrate their traditions. Jewish passover celebrations intersect also this week. Somehow food always seems to be involved with the traditions that follow. It is a reality check that we all are human beings and have to eat to live, so why not celebrate while you're at it, right?! Let's live to eat.

Begin a braid with the 3 dough strands, pinching them together at the top.

This braid was not quite long enough so I adjusted how it goes on top of the master dough in the pan and created a braid circle. From here I laid it on top of the dough in the pan.

Now the dough is ready for the red eggs.

OK, so my eggs are more pink than red. Red eggs are made red with a special red dye found in Middle Eastern stores. It dyes the eggs to the deepest red you have ever imagined. Cover the dough with greased plastic wrap and let rise for about 2.5 hours at room temperature. [Note: Consider these eggs to be used for decorative purposes only and not to be eaten later.]

The recipe called for more eggs but I decided to use three to be historically correct with the trinity. The bread bakes until a thermometer reads 190 degrees F.

The bread is lovely toasted as we did on Easter morning. I read also that it makes great french toast. That is generally true of most enriched sweet breads. They have a substance that you do not get with non-enriched bread doughs.

The tiny sour cherry pit is barely 1/4 inch in diameter and even looks like coriander seeds. When ground it smells faintly like cherry and a bit like bitter almond even in taste. I have read that it can also be used in jams and preserves as well as puddings. This summer I may try it when jam making season begins here in Virginia. Today, for Easter I decided to use it to make Greek Easter bread and created a dish of my own using mahleb: chia panna cotta with mahleb.

Panna cotta is a simple to make Italian dessert made with unflavored gelatin. It can be flavored with many elements. I wanted to embellish it a bit so decided to add some chia seeds for a textural contrast. They will give a tapioca-like texture to the dish. Chia also adds a protein element to the dish.

Chia seed panna cotta with mahleb, an original recipe by Bonnie

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 packet unflavored gelatin

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean scraped into pan)

1 teaspoon finely ground mahleb

2 Tablespoons chia seed

pinch sea salt

1. Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan. You want to scald the cream but not bring it to the boil, but almost. Whisk to keep ingredients well distributed in the pan. Once bubbles start to form on the edge of the pan, it is ready to pour into remekins. Let cool, then refrigerate until set for several hours.

2. To serve, you can serve as it is or add a little topping like some toasted almonds, fresh sweetened whipped cream, finely chopped candied orange, a few drops of Grand Marnier or even Amaretto liquor or a combination.

03/23/2013

The seasons are changing slowly from winter into a sluggish spring. I do not get sick often but every once in a while something grabs me. Who knows, maybe the change in seasons made me vulnerable and I woke with aches and pains and felt tight all over. A tightening in my chest yielded itself into a cough and underpinnings of a late winter cold.

Homemade miso soup is one that is unique to you. Make it with whatever you have available.

Last fall I began vinyasa yoga classes as part of a health and wellness caring of self and have worked to go three times a week. Keeping up with my fellow yogis is no easy task and yoga is not for the faint of heart. Yoga is hard yet the benefits are great if you stick with it long enough to feel better breathing, sleeping, flexibility and ability to focus. Being about 75% kept me out of class most of the week much to my chagrin. When I woke up this morning, a sunny but chilly Saturday I decided I felt well enough to head over to my yoga class at Inner Power Yoga. The instructors have all the wisdom of the universe in their gentle and persistent teachings, encouraging us to breathe through the nose both in and out. I wondered if I would make it through the class today and alas did, so I think I will live to yoga another day. So to fnd the perfect fuel for post yoga class I turned to my all time Asian favorite: miso soup, homemade.

Mise en place (everything in it's place) for miso soup ala Bonnie.

The one thing that heals and fuels my body when I am under the weather is making my own miso soup. I am not talking about those packages which would be easy but rather just going into your pantry for an assortment of health giving staples and homemade miso soup will always be the norm no matter how under you feel.

Dried shitake & seaweeds go in the pot first with 2 cups of water. Bring slowly to a simmer over medium heat. You can add dried ginger too if you have that lying around. I usually have fresh but dried is available at Penzeys so you are never out.

I want to share it with you but before I just give a recipe (and you do not really need a recipe) let me say how making the conscious choice to eat healthy most of the time means you make that committment somewhere along the line and then bring that commitment to fruition by creating your pantry first. Purge the processed pantry items in the freezer, fridge and pantry is more liberating than you know and it may be done in stages. That is for another post however so here we go.

Thinly sliced savoy cabbage. Use any thinly sliced greens you may have like kale or spinach or chard, or even wild foraged greens (nettles) if you are a forager like me.

A few ingredients make homemade miso a breeze and something that means little effort. I came home and put it all together in about 20 minutes and had all ingredients on hand. Twenty minutes from taking ingredients out of the pantry and fridge, setting up mise en place (cutting stuff up) and then warming it on the stove. I had leeks and carrot so thinly sliced a few bits of each and added to the simmering pot of health-giving, immunity producing brew.

Remove the inner green part of garlic this time of year because it tends to be bitter. Slice thinly and add to the pot. I learned this little tip from Dorie Greenspan in her book Around My French Table.

Dry staples include items like edible seaweeds like wakame, dulse, and kombu (take out when done) and dried shitakes. You can't always have fresh shitake on hand but reaching into your pantry for a container of dried shitake mushrooms, you will have all kinds of quick and dirty nutrition right at your fingertips. Most health food stores and asian markets will have these items. If you live in outlying areas and do not have these kinds of shops closeby, consider mail order sources. I found some nice links to the ingredients mentioned in this post. Check them out for some additional education.

Fresh ginger is peeled first, then thinly sliced and then thinly slice the slices. This cut is called julienne. I learned about julienne cuts in my knife skills class from my online cooking school Rouxbe.

From the fridge you might have tofu and miso paste. Be discriminating about the miso paste you buy because some miso has MSG which you want to avoid. I buy mine from the health sections. It comes in different types from brown, red, yellow and white miso pastes and keeps a long time in the fridge. There are many other uses for miso besides soup.

One important piece to remember about miso is that it is a living fermented culture and as such should never be added to boiling liquid or you will kill the active and health-giving enzymes in the miso. The enzymes in the miso and what make it a true health food capable of boosting immune systems with regular consumption. You can figure on 1-2 teaspoons of miso per 8 oz of water. Measure it out into a separate bowl, add some of the liquid from the soup and stir till combined. Remove the soup from the heat THEN stir in the miso. You can also portion the soup into each bowl and add the miso separately. Miso is one of the few plant sources of B-12 nutrition!

This is red miso paste. Do not buy miso paste with MSG. You can find miso paste in health food sections or health food stores. Use about 1-2 teaspoons miso per cup water or broth.

Let's make soup:

Take 2 cups water and put in a small saucepan.

Add a pinch of wakame seaweed, a 2" piece of kombu and some dried shitake mushrooms. (I added a piece of dulse which I also had in my pantry bag of dried seaweed goodies.

Thinly slice some onion or green onions, or some leek, carrot, cabbage or whatever other green vegetables you may have in the bottom drawer of the fridge. You could add some thinly sliced broccoli. Set the pot over medium heat and slowly bring to a simmer. Add vegetables as you prep them. Add a clove of sliced garlic and some fresh ginger (about 1/2 inch) julienned.

This is an organic non-GMO extra firm tofu I found at my local Asian market. I cubed a half inch slice and put it into the soup. Store opened tofu in its liquid and use within a week.

One key to making a tasty soup is being able to thinly slice the vegetables so they will be easy to eat.

Most seaweeds will expand astronomically like this piece of kombu. I rolled it up and sliced it into ribbons and added it to the soup. It has a slightly gelatinous character when cut. Kombu is a great source of B-12. Kombu is a bit thick and leathery.

Kombu is the chief ingredient in dashi broth which is a component of most miso soups. Here it is sliced thinly and added to the soup for added texture and nutrients.

Tofu is a nice addition to miso soup and adds some welcome protein. If you have any leftover small pieces of cooked meat, chicken, fish or shellfish, a small amount may be added. You will not need but a tiny bit of any of these additions. When choosing tofu, look for firm or extra firm tofu that is preferable organic and non-GMO for the best upgrades.

Once your broth and vegetables have simmered for about ten minutes you can prepare your miso as your last addition. Get your bowl and spoon out. Take the soup off the heat and add the miso that you have tempered. Serve and feel good.

Temper your miso with some hot broth. Never put miso in really hot liquids or you will kill the beneficial properties of fermented miso.

Think minimalist when you make miso soup. Small amounts are good. Think immunity and comfort to heal your body and make it feel good.

It has been nearly a year away from this blog and I have missed writing. I have nearly a year's worth of new experiences to share with readers and hope they inspire you to cook and try new foods.

In my journey to make miso soup my own inspiration came from some of these popular sources:

I have had a fascination with herbs and wild plants that goes back to the 60’s. A modern pioneer of early 21’st century foragers was an interesting fellow named Euell Gibbons. Many thought he was just a nuts, weeds and twigs kind of guy and others wanted to learn how to survive in Central Park on nothing but foraged foods.

Violet wood sorrel has a lovely citrus taste. Flowers and leaves are edible.

Perhaps the most famous of his published books was Stalking the Wild Asparagus and Stalking the Good Life. I read at least three of his books cover-to-cover and wondered how these wild foods would taste. He was known to have wild food parties where folks would bring their foraged foods and prepare them in delicious ways. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Curly dock. Young leaves can be put in salads. Older leaves can be bitter and are best boiled for 15 minutes or used in soups. High source of Vitamin A.

Eating from the wild makes you aware of the diversity offered by the earth. What is lost in cultivated foods is found in the wild with great abandon. Organisms must struggle to survive this earth and in so doing they build strength to endure hardship. That is what is found in wild foods such as the lowly dandelions, chickweed, violets, sheep sorrel, and lamb’s quarters I would find in any of your gardens right this minute. This stuff takes you out of your comfort zone and that makes you stronger and amongst the fittest that survive this earth.

Lamb's quarters. Does this live in your garden? Add some to your next stir fry with greens.

Last weekend I got my chance to revisit this wild food curiosity out in the mountains of West Virginia. Kristen Dorsey of Divine Journeys planned a Wild Foods Retreat out in Harper’s Ferry, WV at the FLOC center center. We had the option to tent or stay in the rustic lodge. To add an alluring nuance to the weekend Chef Miriam Conroy was there to create gourmet meals on Saturday and also Sunday brunch all we could forage. Lorrie Schoettler of Swallowtail Consulting handled the event logistics and also contributed beautiful organic grown vegetables from her own garden for Saturday night’s meal.

Kristen Dorsey led us on a hike through many habitats from deciduous upland forests to fields and riparian and wetland areas teaching us all along the trail. We had a book on edible plants that we used as our reference guide.

We took a 4 mile hike from the lodge down to the Shenandoah River and back. Kristen and her friend Annie Delaterre identified plants for us. We sampled and photographed plants like rattlesnake weed and learned it is NOT edible, but a pretty plant to find. It has medicinal uses. Blueberries were all over the higher elevations and were just past bloom and beginning to set their tiny fruits. Our trails took us from upper elevation habitats of oak & hickory forests down to a riparian and wetland areas. After lunch at a beautiful waterfall we continued down to the river to begin our collection of wild plants for the second half of the trip. Those with leather gloves collected stinging nettles. These are edible and of the highest value nutritionally. I had no idea! The plan was to use them for a pesto for Sunday brunch.

Rattlesnake weed shown with the showy basal leaves and yellow flowers. This plant is NOT edible but can be used medicinally as a expectorant and topical for snake bites.

Some rules for the new forager are to positively identify the plant, collect with permission from property owners, collect with respect for the plant and the environment, avoid foraging where chemicals have been used, and protect yourself along the way. Never harvest a plant that you cannot positively identify and know how to prepare. Learn from others who are experienced first.

You are encouraged to have a curious mind and forage a small bit of wild greens to be added to your next salad. Make a mild and simple vinaigrette of lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper and fresh herbs if you have them. Be sure to clean your greens well. A salad spinner is a nice thing to have when working with greens.

Sorrel soup and cultivated and wild greens salad with a mild and simple viniagrette. Simple and light. The soup was a mild tasting broth that was soothing after a long hike.

Some of my tablemates for our gourmet wild foods evening. We had stimulating conversation and sensational food prepared by Chef Miriam.

Chef Miriam Conroy poses for the papparazzi after teaching the group how to prepare a wild greens & mushroom omelet for Sunday's brunch. We dined on wild greens quiche, soft poached eggs atop toasted english muffins topped with nettle pesto and a berry compote. We drank a variety of herbal teas and homemade herbal cordials all make by Kristen throughout our weekend.

After such an inspiring weekend, I took to the trails on Monday and came back with two bags of foraged greens that included cleavers, garlic mustard, sheep sorrel, and stinging nettles (picked carefully with gloves, of course). Kristen posted a few recipes on our new FB group page called Wild Food Forager. Send me a note if you wish to join this lively closed group. I have made a wild greens saute, added wild greens to our morning green juices, Kristen's now famous wild greens quiche and a creation I made last night that turned out so delicious I had to share it here with you:

Wilted Spinach and wild greens with hot bacon sweet & sour dressing

2 large bunches of organic spinach, cleaned and torn into bite size pieces

4 dates, pitted and soaked in a tablespoon or 2 of cordial or liquor of your choice (brandy, rum, herbal liquors, etc), chopped

Mise en place. Set everything out and do all the chopping first. This makes cooking more fun when you are ready to assemble.

These wild greens include garlic mustard leaves, nettles, and cleavers. Wash your wild greens well to get any debris off of them. Cut them into bite sized pieces and spin dry in a salad spinner. Do the same with the spinach. I cut the large leaves into bite size pieces.

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Set aside and drain on paper towel. Leave bacon drippings in pan. Add 1 ½ Tablespoons canola oil to pan.

2.Close to serving time, heat skillet with the oil and bacon drippings over medium heat. Add onions & celery and let sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add the wild greens and stir for another minute or so. Add sugar and vinegar and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reduces by a third. Add spinach and dates and their liquid. Toss continually until the greens reduce in size but are still holding their shape. Divide onto 2 plates and top with crisped bacon.

You do not need to cook the greens very long. Remember this is a salad and not a cooked green. I added the wild greens a little earlier than the spinach since the mix had cleavers in it and may have needed a bit more time so they are tender.

Notes: Bitter greens such as many wild greens benefit by the addition of something sweet (hence the soaked dates) . Other complementary flavors for greens include vinegar and even hot sauce in some preparations. These flavors are used to balance the bitter. From ayurvedic thinking the 6 tastes found in your meal will be balanced when all are present: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent, pungent.

So, get your feet wet and go out and pick some wild plants in your own yard. Add them to a salad or veggie sauté and give them a try. The Peterson guides have a book in their series called Edible Wild Plants. This book can be a tool to help you identify the plants you can eat that are free for the taking.

02/20/2012

My husband Peter used to tell me about his favorite breakfast experience during his tour with the Marines in Japan back in the late 60's. He told me that he loved the sticky rice over which was poured a raw egg and a few drops of soy sauce. He quickly stirred the egg into the very hot rice mixing up all the ingredients. The egg would begin to cook and the rice would turn a lovely glossy yellow. You would sprinkle chopped scallion over the top and dig in. These were his days spent as a young 20 year old during the Vietnam war only he was stationed in Okinawa.

Today we revisit the breakfast with a few changes...

Bok choy chopped up along with a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.

We are thinking about high nutrition to a breakfast that will give us energy till the lunch hour. If you think about having nutritious and tasty foods available in your pantry and fridge all the time, then your family can put together great tasting food any time of day.

Brown rice is one of these great staples. Soak brown rice the day before if you have that luxury of time. If you do not, build it into your routine sometime during the week. Since it is just two of us, I soak a cup of brown rice over night. The next day I pour off the water and add 2 1/4 cups fresh water and bring to a boil on the stove. Turn the heat down to medium low or till there are gentle bubbles on the surface. Let the rice cook (covered or uncovered) for about 20-30 minutes until most of the water is absorbed. Take off the heat and let cool. When cool put into a container and into the fridge for making breakfast.

Cooked brown rice leftover from the fridge waiting to go into the pan.

We are lucky in larger metropolitan areas (such as Washington, DC) to have large ethnic populations. And with these populations comes the amentities that cater also to their needs. I have come to love the wealth of ethnic grocery stores in our area and frequent them more than the standard grocery stores (such as Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter, etc). The produce sections are often filled with vegetables and fruits you may have never seen or rarely see in standard stores. Pick up some baby bok choy on your next trip. Other items to have on hand are sometoasted sesame oil, tamari or high quality shoyu (soy sauce) and some rice wine vinegar. [You could upgrade your vinegar by trying brown rice vinegar or even some umeboshi plum vinegar.]

Pick up a jar of gomaisio too. "Goma" is sesame in Japanese. Gomaisio consists of toasted sesame seeds and sea salt and sometimes also has seaweed in the mix. This is a healthy sprinkle for many dishes. Gomaisio is one of those nutritious condiments that adds some micronutrients that are often not found in any other foods. Eden foods makes this product and has several varieties. I like the one with the seaweed for the added micronutrients.

This is my condiment tray. The gomasio, tamari, toasted sesame oil, and plum vinegar are all used in this breakfast saute. (You can also use rice vinegar or even better brown rice vinegar as well as umeboshi plum vinegar.)

I leave for work very early in the AM each day so a quick and nutritious breakfast is what I seek. Now you have your cooked brown rice, some bok choy and your condiments.

In a small non-stick single pan heated on about medium, add a teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil. Take one bok choy and either break off about 4 good sized leaves or cut off the end first and discard, then cut into half inch pieces. Make sure you check for any dirt that may have accumulated in the root end of the bulb. Add the cut greens to the pan and stir for about 2-3 minutes. Now add half a cup of cooked brown rice (aren't you glad you already had brown rice made in the fridge?). Add a teaspoon each of rice vinegar and shoyu sauce and toss for a minutes or two until the rice is warmed up. Pour into your nice bowl, sprinkle with gomaisio and get some chop sticks and enjoy.

You could add an egg to the finished bowl but make sure the rice and greens are hot so as to cook the egg when you quickly stir it in. If you have leftover fish from the night before you may also add that for some additional protein. Try this a few mornings and see what you think. If it is good you may want to add it to your quick morning repertoire for a nice bit of energy on the way to work. Your body will thank you too. There are optional add-ins depending on your likes and what is available: shitake mushrooms (immunity), scallions, shredded carrot, finely shredded cabbage, spinach. The idea is to start your day with a good dose of fiber and protein that will keep you going.

Some nutrition facts things to know about brown rice:

Brown rice is chewier in texture than white rice. It takes longer too cook yet since the endosperm is still on each grain you have higher nutrition and fiber in each grain and that is what is best for your health. Brown rice is a carb but also supplies a source of protein. Soaking the grains then rinsing the soak water releases a lot of the phytic acid present in many grains and legumes. High levels of phytic acid in the body can leach the zinc out of your system so soaking the rice is better especially if you eat a lot of brown rice. It is just a good habit and also good to understand how to handle different ingredients so your body gets the most from them.

A traditional Japanese breakfast would consist of more than this simple bowl. It would also have miso soup, a piece of fish, some pickled vegetables in addition to the rice. For ease of having a nutritious breakfast that you can fix in 5 minutes this works well and satisfies. If you have a piece of leftover fish from the night before, toss it into the pan towards the end just to warm it up and you will have a bite of additional protein.

Now you can add the raw egg at the very end if you want and stir it all up while the rice is very hot.

Japanese breakfast. Quick saute for busy working folks and really good for you too.

01/28/2012

Maybe it's a bowl of fruit or a bagel and cream cheese in the morning. Are you one of the ones who starts your day with a cup of coffee on the way out to work?

Or power down a donut or grab a banana and then run out the door?

It is painful for me to admit that I woke up to that grinding of the coffee beans each morning before I went out the door at 5:30 to head for the office.

Don't get me wrong! I love a great cup of coffee as much as every coffee lover out there. I must admit that my energy was high only to drop like a ton-o-bricks by mid morning. Sometimes I would skip breakfast entirely and just make it to lunch just be ravenous. And I don't want to put any coffee houses under by saying no to coffee. When you make a few changes to your early AM routine like eating breakfast you begin to literally break-the-fast. You have slept all night, hopefully on an empty stomach and wake up to a comfortable level of hunger. This is what it ought to be.

I sit in a comfortable 50-something age bracket with a bit of weight gain, body changes and wondering how my next chapter of life will be. They say it all goes down hill after 40. I just won't subscribe to that either. I have created this Ode to Breakfast series for those of us who are on the go every morning just to either sit in traffic or join the daily grind...so to speak.

Since I have been attending my nutrition school at IIN I have learned how to eat, breathe, exercise, meditate, handle my stress and relationships, evaluate my career and happiness, but I think as much as anything, I have learned how to start my morning with breakfast once again.

My energy level and mental focus is at its peak each morning. I have laid off the bagels, donuts, pop tarts & muffins that others bring to the office and I don't even want or crave them anymore. With a little forethought and planning I can start my day the way any champion would start their day.

I can give you all kinds of reasons for eating breakfast and quote lots of studies and documents that support why eating breakfast is the way to go, but there is enough of that in the blogosphere. In this series I will share some easy breakfasts for the weekday mornings that will start your day in the best way you can imagine. Open your mind to some of these possibilities and then expand on them with your own likes. Try them once, twice and maybe even three times. Then if you like them adjust the recipes to your own preferences. Most of all, see how you feel after you eat this way for a few days. Your body knows what it needs: trust me. It will tell you in the form of cravings what it is not getting but it may be YOU who interprets that sugar craving as a need for a candy bar or salty cravings for a bag of chips.

I choose to celebrate muesli. Back in my Pan Am layover days my favorite layover would be in Zurich, Switzerland where we stayed on the outskirts of town at the Atlantis Sheraton Hotel(now a hostel, I think). This hotel was located at the bottom of the Swiss hillside right next to a small village with pasture land all around. I could open my hotel window to let the crisp cold air into my room after my all night flight and then get my jammies on and fall into the most comfortable of beds and under the lightest down comforter with my window still open. I would fall asleep to the rural sound of cowbells outside of my window.

Our crew pickup was always the next morning. The crews would have time to go into the restaurant and enjoy the breakfast buffet. The large bowl of muesli on the long buffet table was my favorite pick of either the hot or cold selections.

The history of the original Bircher-Benner muesli comes from Switzerland ironically enough. Physician Dr. Maximillian Bircher-Benner ran a sanatorium in Zurich, Switzerland in the 19th and 20th centuries (He lived between 1867 - 1939). He is considered by some to be a pioneer in nutritional research. He used food to heal his patients citing that by eating a diet leaning heavily towards fruits, vegetables and nuts one could be healed of many ailments. His original muesli recipe can be found here. He believed that if one led a simple life like the shepards in the fields with a simple diet of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, exercise like walking and garden work, then an early meal and early bedtime, one could live in harmony with nature. What a simple and obvious way to live! His teachings are so far from what we experience today, don't you think?! Oh, to live a much simpler life and be healthier for it.

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Put in an airtight container. Keeps for about 2 months unrefrigerated.

[There are many variations on this dry mix. This is my own using what I have in the pantry or freezer. Go for about a 3 to 1 ratio of oats to nuts/dried fruits.]

The night before:

Single serving:

1/4 cup of the dry mix, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup (or preferred sweetner like stevia), and a small apple grated, skin and all, even seeds. Mix all together and put in the refrigerator overnight. I have made this in the morning before I go to work and it is ready in about an hour. [Note on the apple: You can use a Granny Smith or other tart apple for a more pronounced apple taste.]

Eat this cereal cold.

You may even add other berries. _____________________________________________________________________

I ran this recipe through Nutrition facts (nutritionfacts.com) and it showed the caloric content for 1 serving (using whole milk yogurt, honey and a small apple & 1/4 dry mix) to be 338 calories. You can reduce this number by choosing nonfat yogurt or a non-dairy choice such as unsweetened coconut, rice, hemp, soy or almond milks). I do not get too hung up on the calories of a food as long as the quality & diversity of what I eat is from whole foods and not processed ingredients.

This is meant to be more of a fruit cereal as opposed to a grin cereal. The whole shredded apple gives plenty of fiber and moisture to the cereal. The whole milk (I use raw mild from the farm) gives a creamy texture and is very smooth to taste. I also use raw, unfiltered honey as my sweetner. You could also substitute stevia. Give this a try as written, then adjust it to your own tastes.

Muesli is best described as tasting like a cool, refreshing, slightly nutty (nuts), chewy (dried fruits), creamy (yogurt), and fruity (apple) cereal. It is comfort in the morning. Full of energy, muesli is a great way to start your day. Make it the night before and take it to work. It will steady your blood sugar and energy level in the AM and get you all the way to lunch without the need for a mid-morning snack.

01/22/2012

I had the opportunity to provide lunch for 12 of my professional colleagues for a recent board meeting. In the past our lunches for 12 ran between $170 and $180 for a lunch that consisted of salad, sandwich choices and 2 soups. There are local chains that do a pretty good job of providing a healthy assortment of lunch items that are also good for you too. A few requests came in to not have red meat or mayo so I built my menu around these requests.

Wellness Lunch for 12

Quinoa salad

Potato, leek & cauliflower soup

Choice of:

Roasted vegetable sandwiches with hummus spread

Greek grilled chicken sandwiches with yogurt feta spread

Gala apples and red grapes

Bottled water

Quinoa is a full protein grain that is one of the few grains that contains all of the essential amino acids. This grain is related to amaranth and is in the genus Chenopodium. It is grown in the highlands of Peru and is related to beets and spinach. It is especially high in manganese and iron and has more lysine in it than any other grain. There is an outer coating on the quinoa grain called saponin. This is a bitter substance that is a natural insect repellent. It is best to rinse quinoa before cooking it to rid the grain of this bitter feature. I did a post a while back on the making of quinoa salad that can be found here. Make a batch of this salad and keep it in your fridge as a tasty component to a healthy and satisfying lunch.

Once quinoa is cooked and cooled you add diced and shredded vegetables of your choice. Use what you like. This salad had a mix of shredded carrot, green onion, diced celery, cucumber, red pepper, mint, parsley and cilantro (herbs I had in the fridge). You could even add frozen corn or black beans or even a jalapeno if you want a touch of heat. Clean out your fridge of veggies you need to use this week so you keep a good turn around going on in your fridge. Being aware of what is in your crisper in the fridge gives you ideas for what needs to be used on a weekly basis.

A homemade dressing consisting of lime juice, rice wine vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper gets tossed into the mix. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight for the flavors to blend. You may also add small currants, golden raisins, sunflower seeds or chopped dates to this salad.

For my sandwiches I roasted the following in a 400 degree oven: red peppers, sliced eggplant, portobello mushrooms (with gills scraped out) and sliced red onions. Prepare your vegetables by cutting the peppers in half and taking out the seeds, slice eggplant to be in half inch think rounds, and portobellos top side up. You may want to lightly spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray so they don't stick. Check after 20 minutes and move around so you get even roasting on all vegetables.

Let the roasted vegetables cool then peel the skins off of the red peppers. Cut the eggplant, mushrooms and red peppers into strips. Set aside or refrigerate until you are ready to assemble your sandwich.

Here is a fabulous homemade hummus recipe (there are so many out there) that comes from the Lebanese Taverna in Arlington. I tried this hummus there during lunch one day and absolutely love it. Now I make it almost weekly. If you take a little more time to soak the chickpeas and then cook them instead of using a can you will save a lot of money and have a creamier texture to the chickpea puree once you put it all together.

1/3 cup each tahini, lemon juice, and water ( you can adjust any of these elements depending on whether you want it to be more lemony, sesame or smooth).

1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Prepare your chickpeas whether using canned or dried beans. For dried beans, once you have drained the soak water, cover again with water in a saucepan and cook the beans for about a half an hour bringing first to a boil then turning the heat down to a simmer. Cook until the chickpeas are soft or they easily squish between your fingers. Drain and cool.

2. Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth, adding more water, lemon or tahini to reach the texture you prefer. Keeps about a week in the fridge. Serve with cut vegetables for a healthy snack and leave the chips alone. (I like hummus with celery and red pepper strips, but then again, that is me.)

I took three large chicken breasts (you could use two for this sandwich) and cut each one into 3 bite size pieces (cutting against the bias so they are thinner when grilled). The marinade consisted of 2 minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, lemon juice (3 tablespoons), 6 tablespoons olive oil. I marinated the chicken overnight. The next day I heated up my new Pampered Chef grill pan over medium heat till hot and carefully placed the pieces in the pan to sear on both sides. The smell was heavenly. Let the chicken cool. You can do this ahead of time also so assembly takes minimal time.

You could purchase a nice whole grain loaf for these sandwiches but I decided to bake 4 loaves of Italian bread dough found in the dairy section at the store. From my Pampered Chef days I used to make a sandwich ring called the Savory Sandwich Ring. For the loaf you would take 2 of the refrigerated loaves and brush on a mixture of egg white, minced garlic and italian seasoning. This gives the outside of the bread a nice flavor and browning when in the oven. For these sandwiches, I kept the long shape but brushed on the seasoned egg white.

For the yogurt-feta spread I blended a cup of plain yogurt, a minced garlic clove, half a cup of crumbled feta and some chopped basil (or could use parsley). Taste and adjust your seasoning to suit your tastes.

Assembly of the chicken sandwich: Use a serrated bread knife to cut your loaf in half lengthwise. place a layer of baby spinach leaves or fresh basil (if you can find it) on the bottom, top with grilled chicken slices, then some roasted red pepper (if desired) and more spinach leaves. On the top piece of bread, spread the yogurt feta dip. Put on the top piece of bread. From this stage I wrapped the uncut sandwich in plastic wrap then wrapped again in a large piece of foil. This made it easy for transport. At the site, I had a cutting board and a serrated knife. I unwrapped the foil from the sandwich and left on the plastic wrap cutting each portion with the plastic around it. This made it sanitary and it kept the sandwich together nicely.

Assembly of the roasted vegetable sandwich: Cut the loaf as above. On the bottom piece of bread spread some of the yogurt feta spread. Next add a layer of baby spinach leaves, then layer your vegetables so each bite will give you a taste of each vegetable. Add another layer of spinach or fresh basil (basil adds such flavor). The top layer of bread got a nice spread of the hummus. Wrap as before. I think I even added a nicely ripened avocado to this sandwich to add some richness to the finished sandwich.

I found a standard recipe for potato & leek soup from one of my cookbooks. Since I also had some cauliflower I decided to add about half a head cut up into florets to the pan. I did not use any added cream, but surely could have. It really was not needed for this lunch. The soup once all veggies cooked was pureed right in the pot with my immersion blender. Think about how you can upgrade the foods you eat by making substitutions that still provide an element (ie. creaminess) but without added fat or even dairy. I think the only diary in this entire lunch came from the plain yogurt used in the yogurt feta dip. (You could make a vegan spread by using a block of soft tofu instead of the yogurt and be no worse for wear.)

My budget for a lunch for 12 was $200. A healthy lunch on a cold day was provided for a mere $65 dollars with just a little thought and planning. The best ingredient added here is something you cannot get in any food establishment: love. Sounds mushy, yes but when you prepare food that is healthy and good for those who enjoy it you add an element that you cannot find in any store. It is your own attention and care.

Cook for yourselves, every day and reap the rewards of great energy, health and happiness.

I am grateful our four kids are all choosing their own path and 3 of 4 will graduate this spring.

The Deahls pose at Kusel Lake at their family reunion a few summers ago at Wild Rose, WI.

I am honored and grateful to have become president of my trade association and am serving a two year term.

Live wire demo at the MAC-ISA's inaugural Day of Safety. November 19, 2011

President's dinner for 6 at the home of Gary & Kathi Mallow in Ashby, WV. I auctioned a dinner for 6 to any member and their friends and was willing to travel anywhere in VA, MD, DC or WV to prepare and serve a dinner for 6. December 3, 2011 It was about deepening relationships within our membership.

I am grateful for both of our families near and far and that they all have their health.

Joey was in the Homecoming court last fall and asked his dad and I to escort him on the field.

I am grateful to have completed my 3rd two year term on the tree commission and closed a chapter of growth and learning both for me and a wonderful small town.

Building relationships by planting trees in communities.

I am also grateful for the people I met this past year and the ways they have touched my life.

Suvir Saran and Charlie Burd at the Silo Cooking School in New Milford, CT. They are two of the most giving souls we know. They open their home for those to visit and give freely of their time and resources. If only the rest of the world were like them, I wonder what the world would really be like.

I am grateful for friends I have and times we spend together though we are far away. These are precious times when you meet even if once a year.

Bird banders meet in Cape May Point each fall for a week during hawk migration. I get to cook for everyone...our week is a popular week with the gang.

I have my good health to be grateful for and also for the farm and farmer that supplies us weekly with all of our CSA food. I made positive changes in how we eat that have resulted in greater energy, freer breathing and more vitality than before.

Tonight is Friday night. It is kind of a weekly celebration night. What do you do? Do you go out to eat or eat in? And how do you celebrate the end of a week? Maybe it's a pizza night or steak and potatoes.

Tonight will be celebrating our good fortunes by having Sally's vegetable dumplings with ginger and soy dipping sauce. Last summer Peter and I spent an extended weekend in upstate New York at the home of noted chef Suvir Saran and his life partner Charlie Burd. It is through them that we met Sally Longo, caterer and owner of Sally's Adirondack Kitchen creator of a local TV show Dinner at 8.

Her recipe for vegetable dumplings with soy & ginger dipping sauce is found in Suvir and Charlie's newest book, Masala Farm.

A blog post about Sally and her elegant and spicy ways can be read here. Most asian dumpling recipes call for pork but these are a delightful mix of vegetables, soy sauce, peanut butter and ginger. The development of these dumplings were a joint effort between Sally, Suvir and Charlie on a cold winter's night. When I asked Sally about using frozen egg roll wrappers she said you could but once you make them from scratch and see how easy they are you will never want to go back. Sally has a recipe for her pork dumplings in her book.

I will say now that I have to agree and will throw the packaged egg roll wrappers lurking in my freezer away without delay! You will want to pick up a copy of Masala Farm and try these along with a pot of homemade Farmhouse Chai. This chai is nothing like what you find in the stores. It is warm, spicy, and creamy. I make it often and so should you.

Boil some water and in a medium sized bowl put 2 cups of all purpose flour. Add 2/3 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup cold water. Mix until a dough forms. Cover with plastic and set aside to make some filling.

In a food processor combine by pulsing to a coarse texture:

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 medium carrot, grated

1/2 cup sliced shitake mushrooms (can use dried that have been soaked in warm water)

To make the dumplings, generously flour a working surface and roll out have of the dough to about 1/6 inch. Cut into about 36 rounds using up all the dough. Then fill each round with between 1-2 teaspoons of filling.

Dab a little water on the edges of half the circle and bring the other side over and seal the edges into a half moon shape. Bringthe edges together so they look like a rippled edge and place on a cookie sheet. Once all dumplings are filled place cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour. Once they are frozen put dumplings in a container or freezer bag.

To cook dumplings, heat 4 teaspoons of canola oil in a large pan over medium high heat.

Add the frozen dumplings straight from the freezer to the pan. Do not stir them for about 2-3 minutes. Let them brown a bit on one side.

Then lower heat to low and add 1/2 cup of water and cover to let steam for 6-7 minutes. Enjoy with dipping sauce.

You might as well make doubles and freeze them because they will be inhaled by your guests.

NOTES:

The dumplings are nothing more than water and flour. I used a 3 inch English muffin ring for cutting the 3 inch rounds out of the rolled out dough. Let the dough sit once it comes together so the gluten can develop. This dough is plyable and easy to roll out on a well floured surface.

12/30/2011

Each December my heart is filled with fond memories of past Christmas times spent with friends, family and coworkers. I have cultural roots that go back to Germany on my mother's side and remember the german cookies mom would make during the holidays. Springerlie, pfeffernusse and fruit and nut cookies always filled the air with scents of spice. This post is not about the cookies but is about my memories of Pan Am Christmas layovers spent in places like Frankfurt and Munich.

Lothar Erbe is our local german artisan master butcher. He has captured the hearts and tummies of local Northern Virginia residents who flock to Purcellville each week to stock up on fresh made brats and special meats. One of my absolute favorites is his Kasseler (smoked pork loin) served with fresh sauerkraut.

Last Friday I dropped by my master artisan German butcher out in Hamilton, Virginia. Lothar Erbe learned his craft as a master artisan butcher in Germany. He supplies the highest quality meats at our year round local farmers market in Purcellville each Saturday and has a shop in their home that is open a few days a week. I picked up a pork roast for Christmas day and sampled some of June's goulasch, a bier and a glass of warm gluhwein. June is Lothar's wife. She is from Korea and used to fly for the airlines and met Lothar in Frankfurt years ago. I also used to fly there during my Pan Am years. We talked about visiting a restaurant near the Hauptbahnhoff called the Baseler Eck. This restaurant served authentic German cuisine and was well known for its schweinehaxen (smoked pork hocks) and also apple fritters (see recipe below).

Baseler Eck in Frankfurt. This restaurant was our layover restaurant. It is on Baseler Strasse.

A former Pan Am flight attendant whom I knew when based in London in the early eighties recently shared his menu for Christmas day...which I decided also to make for the day after Christmas. Sauerbraten is literally translated as sour or pickled roast. The meat must marinate for 2-3 days in a piquant marinade of vinegar, pickling spices and sliced onions that have been boiled and cooled before pouring over the meat. The meat is then braised for a few hours on cooking day, then the sauce is thicken as is traditional using crushed ginger snaps. Mashed potatoes make an easy side for this comforting winter german meal. Canned peaches also make a nice fruit side to this meal. I have a freezer full of venison so decided to use that instead of beef called for in this recipe. The meat was tender and subtly spiced from the 2 days of marinating.

This is a 2 pound venison roast. The marinade was boiled to disolve the sugar, then cooled and poured over the meat. It will sit for 2 days in the fridge. It is fun to turn the meat twice a day and smell the spices. (I did not have a larger roast, so this worked just fine.)

In a large kettle or Dutch oven, brown roast on all sides in oil over medium-high heat. Strain marinade, reserving half of the onions and seasonings. Pour 1 cup of marinade and reserved onions and seasonings over roast (cover and refrigerate remaining marinade). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3 hours or until meat is tender. Strain cooking liquid, discarding the onions and seasonings. Measure liquid; if necessary, add enough reserved marinade to equal 3 cups. Pour into a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil. Add gingersnaps; simmer until gravy is thickened.

Slice roast and serve with gravy. Enjoy!

After two days of marinating, take out the roast and pat dry, reserving the marinade for later. Heat your pan over medium high heat and add the oil. Sear the roast well on all sides. This produces flavorful bits that add to the final gravy. Next add the reserved onions and some of the marinade and cover. Let braise for about 3 hours on medium low.

Adding the marinade prior to braising...

After 3 hours in the pot. Now strain the spices and onions, add back to the pot and add ginger snaps, cooking till gravy is thickened. Now add meat back to the pot and serve when other sides are ready. The aroma is heavenly.

Hans also shared his grandmother's recipe for braised red cabbage that is the perfect accompaniment to the sauerbraten. My recipe is a little different that this one and both are equally good. I will share both versions and let you decide. The house smelled of spices when the braise was started and red cabbage was cooking.

Hans, it has been nice to reconnect with you and so many other Pan Amers over the past few weeks. Thank you for sharing memories and encouraging that of all of us! Prost!

Hans' Braised Red Cabbage

1 medium head red cabbage, cored and sliced

2 large tart apples, peeled and sliced

1-2 Tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil

1 medium sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

6 whole peppercorns

2 whole allspice

2 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons cold water

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, toss cabbage, apples and onion. Add water, vinegar, sugar, butter and salt. Place the peppercorns, allspice, cloves and bay leaf on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and stir with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours.

Discard spice bag. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

All ingredients are placed in the pot in Han's recipe and then brought to a boil. Cover, lower hear and braise according to recipe. It smells like a german restaurant!

[optional: 3 slices good quality bacon, finely chopped and added with the onion]

1. Heat a large saute pan or skillet on medium high. Add the oil. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and saute (if using bacon, there is no need to use the oil. Add both onion and bacon together.) Cook until onion begins to brown (and bacon is crisped.). Add vinegar, brown sugar, allspice and salt & pepper and cook to a boil. Add the red cabbage and toss to coat with the sweet and sour mixture. (You may need to add about 1/4 cup of water here or later.) Let the cabbage come to a boil and cook until the juices in the pan become syrupy, turning down the heat to a simmer. You may cover the pan for about 10 minutes so the cabbage can cook and become tender, then take off the lid and let the water evaporate till the cabbage in nicely coated with the sweet and sour juices. Salt and pepper to taste if more is needed.

[Mashed potatoes, potato dumplings, spatzele, or cauliflower mashed would all go well with this red cabbage.]

My mom made both German red cabbage and hot bacon potato salad to go with ham when I was growing up. Her roots go back to German heritage as do mine. My grandfather and great Aunt Clara would write letters to me in the German language. I wanted to be able to read those letters so studied German in both high school and then majored in German at Baylor University. When I flew for Pan Am, my language of hire was German and therefore most of my trips were in and out of Germany for the 13 years I flew.

Our favorite layover restaurant in Frankfurt was a placed affectionately called "The Gas Station", but was in reality called "Der Baseler Eck". It is within walking distance from the Hauptbahnhof in downtown Frankfurt and just a short walk from our home away from home, the Intercontinental Hotel. Gerd was the owner of this restaurant. He ran all the tables each night with one other helper, so the service literally took all night long. Pan Amers and other crew members from other airlines filled this place nightly. I kind of think we kept him in business but it was also popular with locals. This recipe for apple fritters was a favorite of all crews, so I share it with you all. My kids have come to love these fritters, served warm with vanilla ice cream. I hope one day to take my grown kids to Frankfurt to the Baseler Eck and relive some fond memories of layovers past.

Gerd’s Apple Fritters

A Pan Am family favorite from Frankfurt, Germany

Batter:

2 cups flour

12 oz beer

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

2 beaten egg whites

6 apples, peeled, cored & sliced

oil for frying fritters (Germans used lard, but canola works fine)

Cinnamon sugar

Vanilla ice cream

Combine batter ingredients and let sit in fridge for about an hour. When ready to make fritters, heat oil in a saucepan to 350F. Dip apple slices into batter and put into hot oil. Fry until golden and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Serve as is or with crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream (or Rumtopf if you have some lying around!).

I could not find a picture of these apple fritters in my files but am happy to give credit for this closest to Gerd's fritters from Mario Batali's site...and another version to boot.

I was considered "junior" for my entire 13 years of flying and therefore flew over all major holidays. I would always bid to be off for the holidays, but then chose lines of flying that took me to places I would want to be during a holiday. My regular Christmas layover was in Munich, Germany. We layed over at the Sheraton Hotel, just outside of town. There was usually about an inch or two of snow on the ground. A particularly memorable Christmas layover in Munich started in New York. We were in our briefing room setting up the assignments for our flight. The purser had a letter that she read to us from a fellow flight attendant from London base who lived just outside of Munich. She said that she was recently separated and lived alone about 45 minutes by train outside of Munich. Her letter stated that she knew what it was like to be away over a holiday. She invited our entire crew to ride the train out to her apartment in the suburbs and celebrate Christmas with her, giving us a contact number if we wanted to come out.

You never knew how crew members would be about such invitations, but every last flight attendant and pilot on our crew obliged her invite and decided to take her up on her offer. We arrived early in the morning after our all nighter flight and rode our van to the hotel. Everyone slept for several hours then decided to meet in the lobby to head out by train. It was snowing lightly with about an inch of snow on the ground. I cannot remember her name though I had recollection of flying with her during my London base days but no one else knew her. She had the most lovely spread of German deli food you could possibly imagine, with fresh leber kase (liver cheese), deli meats, cornichon and an assortment of cheeses, mustards and homemade German breads and rolls, plenty of wine and beer. She had a Christmas tree in typically German style with candles and sparsely decorated. The entire place was lit in candles. We dined and sang songs and told stories and laughed until till it was time to take the last train back to Munich. I will never forget the generosity of this fellow member of our huge airline family.

I share these beautiful memories of my past with you in hopes that you too have fond memories to share with others. When we leave this earth one day, all that we will take with us is our memories and leave all the material stuff behind.

10/24/2011

OK. If you are reading this you are on your computer. Now, open up a file and call it:

Nutrient dense recipes

or

Whole food recipes

This was my first encounter with the short lived garlic scape. It is only available for about 3 weeks in spring. We had access to garlic scapes this spring with our farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It was fun taking a new ingredient, Googling it and finding ways to enjoy it during its short lived availability.

If you are serious about making healthy changes for you and your family, then start here and now.

Today is the time to rogue out the processed foods in your life and begin to make upgrades to your nutritional lifestyle.

I mean it, start today. It begins in the kitchen.

Take an inventory of what you have. Do you have white flour, white sugar, processed foods in your pantry, refridgerator and freezer? Take a magic marker and put a big fat X on the foods you KNOW you need to weed out of your life.

Now, I don't mean going cold turkey unless you like that sort of thing, but if you first make a committment to yourself that you are going to make changes because your LIFE depends on it you will commit to lasting change in your life. In the past 2-3 years I have been gradually making changes towards a better lifestyle by upgrading the ingredients in my kitchen, fridge, freezer and pantry.

Know that this does not happen over night, but gradually. It is in these gradual changes that you begin to live and eat better quality foods and leave behind the processed world of foods that are mostly UFOs (Unidentified Food Objects). There is a really cool app called Fooducate. Download it here.

My dear friends, there is a growing movement towards more healthy choices in our world. It is up to each of you to identify these better choices and try the options you have never considered.

Click on the link to find out more about what this day represents. It is a raising of awareness in this country about the current state of our food system, where we are, where we need to be and why. We have escalating health care concerns in America resulting in a huge increase in type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, digestive disorders and many more chronic ailments. If you watch TV you will be bombarded with the marketing of processed foods and perscription drugs at every turn.

Educate yourselves about healthy choices and living.

In my own workplace I have observed health problems in my colleagues ranging from digestive disorders, to weight issues, dental problems, high blood pressure, cancer and more. I cannot help but be stirred by the plights of my coworkers to look at my own issues and address them one by one.

Food Day was the brain child from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. This is a consumer advocacy group that emphasizesa focus on innovative researchon health and nutrition and provides consumers with education on this latest research.

In my CSA last Friday I picked up some sweet potatoes. These have signalled the changing fall season, so we have been enjoying them mashed with freshed grated ginger and also as sweet potato fries, complete with the skin.

Wash the tubers and then cut lengthwise into fries (sort of like home fries). Toss them in a bit of coconut oil (as opposed to vegetable oil. You can read about the oiling of America here!) Now sprinkle some sea salt on them and a favorite seasoning blend (I used Penzey's Singapore seasoning.) You may have to soften the coconut oil just enough so you can coat each sweet potato fry in a large bowl. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375F for about 20 - 30 minutes or until golden.

Leaving the skins on your sweet potatoes adds fiber, texture and more nutrient value to the sweet potato fries.gin

Simply delicious! Sweet vegetables add an element of sweetness that may begin to crowd out sugar or sweet cravings you may have. Add more sweet vegetables to your daily life and you will begin to reduce your dependence on unhealthy sweets. Try it and see....

You may copy this recipe and save it to your new file. Now the next step is to go to the store tomorrow and buy a few sweet potatoes. While buying organic is better at least try them. If you cannot find coconut oil (health food aisles), you may use a light vegetable oil, but begin to look for alternative oils...for your health.

Really Cool Sites

Zoe Bakes; have dessert first.Zoe Francois is a dedicated baker and dessert maker. She resides in Minnesota and makes desserts at Tilia. Her three books called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (the first) and 2 more in the series highlight quick ways to make bread so you can bake daily. For bread inspiration, go here.

Chef Miriam cateringChef Miriam Conroy is a graduate of L'Academie de Cuisine. She owns a catering business that serves the WV, northern VA and MD areas.

It's the Journey…Kristen Dorsey is a gifted herbalist who lives on her own micro greens farm where she raises free range chickens, bees, and vegetables.

Swallowtail ConsultingI had the pleasure of getting to know Lorrie Schoettler at our Wild foods retreat recently. She helps small businesses and non-profits to succeed in the creation and promotion of their businesses. If you are a small business and could use some guidance, get to know Lorrie.

Rouxbe Online Cooking SchoolCheck out this online cooking school from Vancouver, Canada. You can learn basic skills for your daily home cooking that will increase your confidence in your own cooking skills.

Bonnie Deahl, Holistic Health CounselorWould you like to make better choices for your health and wellbeing? I am currently studying to be a health counselor at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NY. I will offer a six month program later this year that helps you set goals for eating, career, exercise, self care and lifestyle that will improve your quality of life. Join me today.

French Fridays with DorieOnline cooking club members cook their way through Dorie Greenspan's newest book: Around my french table. Join the club!

LuLu GlassOriginal glass creations by Terri. Mostly clocks and unique wall pieces, Terri makes them in her basement workshop. Most of her pieces are by commission.

Suvir Saran A phenomenal chef from India who has made a big splash in this country earning the only Michelin star for an Indian restaurant (Devi in NYC). His approach to Indian cuisine comes from healthy creations of traditional classics. Check him out on Top Chef, season 3 on Bravo TV in April.

Life of SpiceMonica Bhide is an inspiring writer who connects her Indian culture with American culture. Her approach is fresh and introductory for Americans and takes mystery out of the use of spices. She teaches food writing courses and lectures frequently.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a DayJeff Hertenberg and Zoe Francois are revolutionizing everyday no-knead home bread baking for both artisan and healthy breads. I love their approach!

The Perfect PantryLydia Walshin has created several connected food blogs. This one highlights other people's pantries and give us a peek into our private kitchen places.

101 CookbooksWhole food cooking at its best! Fresh approach to cook what is good for us.